NBHS grad among contestants on new Trump reality show

Thursday

Jun 17, 2010 at 12:01 AMJun 17, 2010 at 8:33 AM

When Lyle Silva was growing up, he remembers riding the bus from his home in the Westlawn housing projects — a place often plagued by violence and addiction — to North Dartmouth, where he attended the private, predominantly white, Friends Academy.

ALEXIS HAUK

When Lyle Silva was growing up, he remembers riding the bus from his home in the Westlawn housing projects — a place often plagued by violence and addiction — to North Dartmouth, where he attended the private, predominantly white, Friends Academy.

Today, Silva has once again taken a trip to a different level of privilege. As one of the 12 contestants in Donald Trump's new reality show, Silva not only got to live in the Las Vegas Trump Tower, he is now attending a flurry of promotional events, including a premiere in New York City and the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.

Yes, "The Donald" has a new reality series. "The Ultimate Merger," debuting tonight on TV One (Comcast 214), stars Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, a business consultant with a master's degree from Howard University.

While Manigault-Stallworth has a long list of accomplishments — she worked as White House deputy associate director during the Clinton administration — she's best known as just "Omarosa," voted TV Guide's "No. 1 reality show villain," for her infamous run in the first season of Trump's "The Apprentice," in 2004.

In "The Ultimate Merger," as one entertainment blogger put it, Trump acts as Omarosa's "pouffy-haired yenta" — with the premise that, underneath it all, even a reality TV villain is just looking for love.

Among the crop of competitive paramours selected to prove their romantic mettle — the men range from foreign currency trader to fashion designer to Christian rap artist to former NFL linebacker-turned-fitness coach — sits Silva, 1991 graduate of New Bedford High School. He was chosen after responding to an open casting call.

A star varsity basketball player in high school, Silva landed an athletic scholarship to Columbia University, majored in economics, and later earned a law degree from Georgetown University (he now litigates in Washington, D.C.). Silva said he owes his success to his mother's dedication to raising him on her own.

And, he said, it was his mother's strength and courage that shaped his definition of the ideal woman.

Elaine Silva had just turned 17 when she gave birth to Lyle, her only child. She was the second-oldest child out of 11 (10 of them female), so Lyle remembers being surrounded by aunts — the youngest of whom was only about a year older than he was. Elaine started out as a beautician and eventually changed careers, joining the police in a time when women didn't do that, retiring after 15 years protecting the city.

"I think she did a phenomenal job in not succumbing to some of the ills that are out there in New Bedford," he said, even though the "odds were stacked against her."

They eventually moved out of the Westlawn projects. Elaine still lives in the South End of the city.

"There's a lot of crime, a lot of drugs, and she managed to always work," he said. "She made sure she put clothes on our back and put me first completely."

Of course, that kind of selflessness doesn't exactly match Omarosa's reputation. But Silva said that characterization of Omarosa leaves out the fact that she is a "multi-faceted woman."

"She has a tough outer shell that I think a woman needs today to survive in the male-dominated world of business," he said. Without revealing too much, he added, "By the end of the show, the audience is going to see a completely different side of Omarosa."

For his part, Silva said he's excited to represent his state, his city and, most of all, his heritage (his grandparents met coming on the boat from Cape Verde).

"I'm carrying a country and area's pride," he said.

This "once in a lifetime opportunity," has changed his outlook on what the future holds. Show business "definitely sucks you in," he said. The sky is the limit for the 36-year-old NBHS and Ivy League grad.

The first of eight episodes of "The Ultimate Merger" — which will measure each contestant's "seductive strengths" and business acumen — premieres tonight on TV One (Comcast 214) in a special 90-minute episode, at 9 p.m. Silva said he understands that the Celtics-Lakers NBA championship final may take priority at that time; however, "Ultimate Merger" repeats at midnight.